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Message from the founder
Dear Customers, Colleagues, Partners, and Investors,
As Zappy marks its 10th anniversary, I want to share a personal recount of our journey.
Zappy began its life as Payport in 2012, interestingly, from inside a retirement village. This followed a significant period in 2009 when I paused my career to care for my ailing father. He had urged me against going into business, preferring stability over the uncertainty he had witnessed in the lives of his peers and his own father's lost fortune during his youth. After he passed, I did most of what he asked of me from his sickbed, including taking care of mum and taking her on a few overseas trips. After grieving for him, I found myself venturing into yet another business.
Zappy was founded to support e-commerce businesses in their growth by providing tailored shipping solutions. Our shipping software was designed for small businesses by small businesses. I say "by small businesses" because your feedback over the past 10 years has shaped and evolved our software into what it is today, and for that, I am profoundly grateful. On the surface, we sell courier services, but helping e-commerce businesses grow is really what we do.
Starting with just one developer, one customer service person and one salesperson, our customer base grew rapidly. Our rebranding from Payport to Parcelport in 2015 marked our move from the retirement village to a loft office in the city, expanding our team to ten members.
Our ethos has always been customer-first, think long term, think win-win, and have ethics in doing so. This has always been the guiding principle behind every decision this company makes, big or small, with every member of our early team ready to handle any task. I fondly recall personally answering customer emails and calls, and once even chasing a delivery truck across the harbour bridge to rectify a shipping error by a customer, emphasizing our long-term approach to business.
Customers started to refer their friends and business associates to us, 25% of our business comes from word of mouth, I am incredibly humbled by this. Before long, we had a few thousand customers signed up. Happily, most of these customers are still with us today, and you will see some of their testimonials on our website. I’m proud to witness not just our own growth but that of our customers, seeing some of them grow from operating out of their garages to owning their own warehouses.
Our growth was acknowledged when Parcelport ranked 170th in the Deloitte Fast 500 Asia Pacific index in 2016, and by 2021, we became the 4th fastest-growing company in New Zealand, according to Deloitte Fast 50. In 2022, we topped the Financial Times' list of High-Growth Companies in Asia Pacific, ranking 1st in New Zealand.
Against my father’s initial advice, I invested heavily in Parcelport, even maxing out personal credit cards to ensure timely payments to our staff and suppliers. This commitment to trust and loyalty, alongside overcoming my struggles with public speaking to secure investment from Zino Ventures, Icehouse Ventures, and Angel HQ in 2017, underscores the challenges we've embraced to succeed. Like a shipping label that adheres to a package until its delivery, we stick by our customers, our values and our principles. As Parcelport rebranded to Zappy, apart from the name, nothing would change. The Parcelport values remain at the heart of Zappy, continuing to guide the company into the future.
With the rebranding, we are expanding into bigger premises and international markets, including opening offices in Sydney and Melbourne, we are moving into an exciting next decade. I reflect on these past 10 years with gratitude. Our loyal customers, dedicated team members, supportive partners, and investors have been the backbone of our success. Like the package along its journey from the warehouse to the depot, from the airplane to a delivery vehicle, it passes through so many pairs of hands that help it reach its destination, every individual involved has helped propel us to where we are today. I only wish my father could see what you have helped us achieve.
Thank you to everyone past and present who has been part of this incredible journey. Here's to continuing our shared success in the exciting years ahead.
Yours faithfully,
Jimmy Wu
